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News releases

Tesco to become first UK supermarket to dip into growing vinyl album market

31 Aug 2015

Tesco will become the first UK supermarket to tap into the rapidly growing vinyl music market next week when it will sell the new album by British rock legends Iron Maiden.
Maiden&#8217;s first studio offering in five years, The Book Of Souls, will be released on Friday September 4, with the triple LP format going on sale in 55 of the supermarket&#8217;s largest Tesco Extra stores.

Tesco will become the first UK supermarket to tap into the rapidly growing vinyl music market next week when it will sell the new album by British rock legends Iron Maiden.

Maiden’s first studio offering in five years, The Book Of Souls, will be released on Friday September 4, with the triple LP format going on sale in 55 of the supermarket’s largest Tesco Extra stores.

The move is significant as in the last few years the vinyl album revival has been gaining momentum, year on year with sales up by more than 50 per cent in 2014.*

Vinyl albums have bucked the downward sales trend in the last year of other music formats such as CDs which fell by 6.5 per cent and downloads which dropped by nearly nine per cent.

The only other music format in growth is streaming which grew by 78 per cent last year.

He said: “In the last year we began selling record decks in our largest stores and initial sales are very encouraging so giving our customers some new vinyl to play on those decks seems like the logical next step.

“And there can be no better way to launch this trial than working with one of rock music’s most iconic bands and their eagerly anticipated new album.

“We are anticipating demand for The Book Of Souls to be high as Iron Maiden’s last album was the band’s most successful to date, reaching number one in 28 countries including the UK.

“If this trial is a success then we would consider selling more vinyl albums before the end of the year.”

After bottoming out at just over 205,000 vinyl albums in 2007, UK sales have grown every year since and in 2014 reached almost 1.3 million – the highest annual total since 1995.

Michael Mulligan added: “The trend for vinyl doesn’t seem to be confined to one particular age group. Parents are getting their old vinyl albums down from the loft and teenagers are discovering the joys of the 12 inch record for the first time.”

Customers and fans can also enjoy Iron Maiden’s own brand of beer called Trooper, whilst they first play the new album, with Tesco offering them the opportunity in their Extra stores to purchase a 500ml bottle for £1 when bought with the LP or CD, instead of the regular retail price of £1.99.

Iron Maiden co-Manager, Dave Shack commented: “It was a proud moment when the UK’s biggest supermarket created a landmark opportunity for us to present our fans with a one-stop shop for our brand new album & award winning Trooper beer.

“We have put a lot of energy into all our formats of the new record but the vinyl has to be one of the most impressive packages I have ever seen.

“It’s a triple gatefold sleeve housing six sides of premium 180g vinyl and incorporates some unique, quite spectacular artwork across the whole package – something that can only be done with vinyl due to the space this format offers.

“Celebrating the release of this album with a special price on our Trooper beer felt like a great way of saying cheers to our fans. We sincerely hope they like both!”

ENDS

Note to editors:

* All music industry data recorded by the BPI (British Phonographic Institute)

The Book Of Souls will also be sold in CD format by Tesco in 850 of its UK stores and online at Tesco Direct. The 3 LP vinyl format will cost £24 while the 2 CD version will cost £9.

The Tesco stores that will be selling the vinyl format are:

Lee Mill Extra

Reading Extra

Romford Gallows Corner Extra

Southend Extra

Scunthorpe Extra

Telford Extra

Wath-Upon-Dearne Extra

Weston Favell Extra

Stockport Extra

Great Yarmouth Extra

Stourbridge Extra

Bradford Extra

Grimsby Extra

Hexham Extra

Coulby Newham Extra

Swansea Llansmlet Extra

Nottingham Beeston Extra

Culverhouse Cross Extra

Manfield Chesterfield Extra

Hull St Stephens Extra

Bradley Stoke Extra

Oldham Huddersfield Extra

Hanley Extra

Walkden Extra

Walsall Extra

Dudley Extra

Bulwell Extra

Barnstaple Extra

Yate Extra

St Helens Extra

Corby Oakley Road

Woolwich Extra

Gateshead Trinity Extra

Shoreham Extra

Wembley Extra

Osterley Extra

Brislington Extra

Bradford Peel Centre

Gallions Reach Extra

Chester Broughton Extra

Coventry Arena Extra

West Bromwich Extra

Durham Extra

Exeter Vale Extra

Hartlepool Extra

Horwich Extra

Hindley Extra

Hucknall Extra

Irlam Extra

Talbot Green Extra

Leeds Seacroft Extra

Leicester Extra

Milton Keynes Extra

Milton Keynes Bletchley Extra

Merthyr Tidfell Stn Yard Extra

For more information please contact the Tesco Press Office on
01992 644645We are a team of over 500,000 people in 12 markets dedicated to providing the most compelling offer to our customers.